Snow Girl
by Tomate
Summary: Stella tells Mac about the first time she was out in the snow. Smacked. One shot.


Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination.

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"Why do you love snow so much?" Mac asked as he and Stella sat in a small coffee shop, each with a piece of cake and a cup of coffee in front of them. It was a Saturday afternoon in December, only a few weeks until Christmas and Stella had talked Mac into taking a little break from work and getting out of his apartment. They had taken a walk through the snowy Central Park, had watched some kid's ice skating and having a snowball fight.

Somewhere along their walk, Stella had started a snowball fight. Mac hadn't wanted to get into the fight at first but after Stella had hit him on the head with a ball – which actually wasn't intended but did its work anyway – he threw his own snowballs at Stella.

Stella had ended up laughing on the floor, holding her hands as a sign of capitulation. Mac had looked down at her with a smirk on his face. He had thought about using the situation to get back on Stella for the snowball that had hit him on the face earlier but had decided to let it go and had just helped her onto her feet again.

After that, they had sat down on a park bench and watched the snow fall down for a while. When Mac had looked at Stella, her eyes were glowing and a smile grazed her face. It hadn't been until Stella started to shiver that they had decided to go to a coffee shop to warm up a little.

Stella cast her gaze away from the window and looked at Mac. "I loved snow already when I was young," she replied.

"There haven't been many things you loved as a kid," Mac said softly.

Stella shook her head. "No."

"Then why snow?"

Stella sighed. "Actually I hated snow when I was a kid. Back in the orphanage, we were only allowed to go out one hour per day when it had snowed. And I hated it so much to stay inside the orphanage. So I hated snow. But one day when it snowed for the whole day, I just snuck out and didn't come back until sometime around midnight. Boy, the nuns were angry that time but it was all worth it for me. I met some friends from school and we made all those things that children are supposed to do when it snows, you know? We built a snowman, had a snowball fight, made snow angels and went ice skating. I had so much fun that day. And that's when I started loving snow 'cause I realized that snow isn't bad."

While Stella was talking, a smile worked its way up on Mac's face. It wasn't often that Stella talked about her childhood and life in the orphanage.

"That was actually one of my last years at the orphanage. Two or three years later, I started going to high school and left the orphanage. At high school and college, my friends and I made it a ritual to sneak out the day the first snow of the year fell, go to Central Park and repeat all the things we did the night I snuck out of the orphanage."

When Stella finished her story, Mac nodded. "That sounds like one of the good memories from your childhood," he said.

"Yeah," Stella replied with a nostalgic smile. "It really is. The best one actually."

"Why don't the two of us make a ritual out of what we did today? It's been fun and – I hate to admit it but it's true – it's good to get out of the office for a while," Mac said.

"Really?" Stella asked.

"Of course," Mac responded with a smile.

"That would be really great, Mac. I had so much fun today."

"Good. How about we do it once a month during the winter months? Only if there is snow of course," Mac suggested.

"Sounds great," Stella said. "You know, we could go ice skating some time…"

"Oh no," Mac protested. "You will _not_ get me on ice skates. I hated that even when I was a kid."

"Didn't I just tell you the story when I started hating the snow but ended up loving it? Maybe it'll be the same with you and ice skating," Stella said with a smirk.

"Oh no, it will _not_ be the same with me and ice skating," Mac gave back.

"You won't know until you try it out," Stella said with a smug smile.

"Stella," Mac warned.

"I'll convince you eventually," she gave back and turned back to the window to watch the falling snow again. Mac shook her head. Of course he knew she was right. She always managed to convince him; but, for now, she should just take what he gave her. Mac cast his gaze out of the window as well and watched the snow falling.

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**AN: Sooo, what do you think? Did you like it? Or not? I wrote that when it snowed for the first time this winter. I just love snow. **


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